


all that matters

by maiselocked



Category: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drinking, F/M, First Kiss, Late Night Conversations, Lenny punches a guy, Post-Season/Series 03, Sleeping Together, drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23809630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiselocked/pseuds/maiselocked
Summary: in which lenny bruce sees midge maisel after being kicked off shy baldwin's tour.
Relationships: Lenny Bruce (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)/Miriam "Midge" Maisel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 92





	all that matters

**Author's Note:**

> i'm actually very very proud of this story. i love lenny and midge so much if you couldn't tell from this. enjoy <3

Midge Maisel was a woman of many words. She was always able to find something to say about any situation she was in. However, she had no idea what to say when the plane left herself and Susie behind after Shy Baldwin kicked her from his tour. It was 11 at night when she knocked on Joel’s door after not having the courage to face her parents and even later when she rose from bed (they hadn’t slept together but Joel refused to let her sleep on a couch) and left for a bar. 

She had the decency to change into a dress because truth be told, she did not want a repeat of the time she stepped out in her nightgown, flashed her tits and was promptly arrested. Her hair was a mess of curls and her makeup had long since came off from tears and sleep. She would apologize to Joel later for leaving stains of mascara and lipstick on his pillow. 

Her flats made no noise against the concrete sidewalks of New York City and she had never felt so powerless and disheartened. Even when she was shut out from every club in town, she had the smallest bit of hope that Susie would be able to rebuild her career. Now it seemed like every ounce of hope had drained from her. 

She eventually found a bar that was a little close to Joel’s and yet far away enough that she was certain there would not be anyone inside who recognized her. 

The bartender and the few patrons inside watched Midge trudge up to a stool and take a seat. Midge couldn’t have cared less what they were thinking about her when she ordered a glass of bourbon and not her usual martini. 

When the bartender handed her glass, she gave him a tight-lipped smile as a thank you and proceeded to chug half of the drink. It burned her throat as it went down but it felt good to have something that made her not feel so numb.

“Aren’t you that Mrs. Maisel lady?” One of the drunk patrons down the bar asked. 

“That’s me,” she said, raising her glass. 

“Yeah…yeah. You were touring around with that Baldwin guy. Too bad women aren’t funny,” another one said. Midge dryly laughed and took another sip from her glass. 

“What’s so funny?” The first man asked. He stood up from his stool and moved to one that was two away from Midge. The bartender did nothing to ease the situation and instead watched as he took a rag to the different glasses. 

Midge spotted a rusted wedding ring around the man’s finger and couldn’t hold herself back from making a joke that she knew she shouldn’t have made. “Your wife must be pretty damn funny since she married you.”

The man’s eyebrows furrowed in anger and the other man stood up. Before anything happened, a cool voice from behind Midge broke the tension. 

“How about you leave the lady alone?”

Midge turned around in her seat, recognizing the voice almost instantly. She met the familiar hazel eyes of Lenny Bruce. 

“How about you make me?” The drunken man challenged. Midge hardly had time to register the scene in front of her as Lenny’s fist made contact with the man’s jaw. 

“Out! All of you!” The bartender shouted, pointing a jagged finger at the door. Midge quickly hopped off the barstool and grabbed Lenny’s hand, dragging him out with her. 

“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, Midge!” Lenny called out. Midge paid him no mind and continued to walk away from the bar. She stopped once Lenny brought his other hand to her arm and pulled her back. “Slow down.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Lenny looked at Midge under the light that shone from the poles and buildings around them. He had never seen her so disheveled since the first night they met. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Florida?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Europe?” He asked. He could tell that he had hit a soft spot for Midge as she took a deep breath and started walking again. “Hey! Hey!”

She stopped and leaned against a brick wall to look at him. “I fucked up, Lenny. Like fucked up, fucked up. Like I ruined everything fucked up.” 

“What happened, Midge?” He had a certain sincerity and softness to his voice that let Midge know he genuinely cared about her. 

“Do you have anywhere to be?” She asked. He shook his head and offered his arm, a silent invitation to walk and talk with him. Midge and Lenny walked a few blocks, arms hooked together as Midge told him everything that had happened, down to what happened on the boat when Shy first told Midge his secret. Midge trusted Lenny that he would keep everything a secret and wouldn’t judge her. 

“Jesus, Midge,” Lenny breathed out when she finished speaking. 

“Yeah, I know.”

Neither of them said anything but they didn’t need to, honestly. Midge took Lenny’s silence as an understanding response and the pair continued to roam the streets of the city. Nobody was out (the time was about to hit 2 AM so that made sense) and the normal business had completely died down. 

“So why aren’t you in Florida? The hotel kick you out?” Midge asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had grown between them. 

Lenny looked down at Midge. “Just got tired. Miami’s nice but they don’t have nearly as good pot that I can get here. Alcohol is better too.”

“And that’s all?” Midge questioned. She knew there was more that Lenny wasn’t saying. She wouldn’t push him if he didn’t want to talk about it but she could at least ask. 

“You know me too well, Miriam,” Lenny joked. Midge chuckled but looked up at Lenny. He had a faraway look on his face. “Honey is bringing our daughter up here. I haven’t seen her since we split.”

Midge abruptly stopped walking. “That’s amazing.”

“Yeah. I still gotta clean up the apartment and child-proof it. I don’t think kids want to play with bottles of whiskey, ya know?” 

“You have an apartment?” Midge asked. She honestly didn’t know if Lenny had an actual home. It had never occurred to her that Lenny had a home. She sort of assumed he floated around and only really slept on those cold benches inside the jail cells. 

“Did you think I was homeless? You know, being so famous and important does tend to produce its fair share of money.”

Midge rolled her eyes at the comment but smiled nonetheless. The two started walking again but once again, Midge stopped. “Can I stay the night with you? I don’t want to go home.” 

“Yeah,” Lenny answered with little hesitation. “I mean, I would like to take you out to dinner first but since that dress looks so nice on you-“

“Shut up,” Midge told him with a shake of her head and a smile. Lenny began to lead the way towards his apartment that was unfortunately a bit of a walk but they were enjoying each other’s company too much to complain. A few blocks in and Midge intertwined her hand with Lenny’s hand. They remained silent for most of the walk except for Midge pointing out a stray cat that was climbing up a tree in a nearby park. 

Lenny stopped walking when they came onto a brick building that was located in a not-so-nice part of the city but was nicer inside. Midge sighed at the warmth the building offered when they went in. She hadn’t even realized that she grew cold during their walk. Lenny led her to some stairs and they climbed up to the third floor where his apartment was located. He fished a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. 

Midge wasn’t expecting much in the apartment and to be fair, there wasn’t much. There was a couch with a stained coffee table in front of it. On a small table backed against a wall was a television. The walls were empty except for a painting that had been gifted to him a while ago by a fan of his. The kitchen was nothing special. It had everything that a kitchen needed with some counter space and a few stools that created a makeshift breakfast bar. Next to the kitchen was a dining room that was a table and a few random chairs surrounding it. The table was covered in papers, pictures, and documents that hadn’t been touched since the last time Lenny was in his apartment. 

“It’s not your big Upper East Side house but it works,” Lenny said. He took his suit jacket off and hung it on the coat rack next to the front door. 

“It’s nice. Could use a little more interior design,” Midge told him. 

“Is the painting on the wall not enough for you?” 

The painting style seemed eerily familiar and soon enough she recognized it as one of the paintings she had seen stowed away in Declan Howell’s studio. She knew Benjamin would kill to have that in his house and she smiled faintly at the idea of him getting jealous. 

While Midge was lost in thought, Lenny snuck away into his bedroom and grabbed a pair of flannel pajama pants and a white, threadbare shirt for Midge to wear to bed. He came back out and saw Midge toeing off her shoes and placing them neatly near the door. 

“I figured you needed something to wear to bed,” he said, handing her the clothes. 

“Oh, thank you. I didn’t even think about that.”

“Bathroom is in that door right there.” Midge smiled at Lenny and went into the room he pointed to. It was surprisingly very clean and organized. Midge slipped out of her dress and took off her bra. She pulled the white shirt over her and the pajama pants on her legs. Lenny’s familiar smell of cologne, smoke, and alcohol flooded her nose and oddly relaxed her. She threw cold water on her face and scrubbed the last remnants of makeup off. Finally, she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling out knots and tangles until she was satisfied. She looked and felt better than what she had an hour ago and whether that was from cleaning herself up or the company of Lenny, she didn’t know.

She came out of the bathroom to find Lenny throwing a blanket and pillow on the couch. When she came out, he looked at her. “You can take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. We’re not thirteen. We can share a bed,” Midge said. 

Lenny dramatically threw a hand over his heart. “Upper East Side! What would your parents think?”

“I don’t really care what they think or what they have to say right now,” Midge answered honestly. 

“You seem very adamant about getting in bed with me. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you wanted _this_ ,” he said, gesturing towards himself, “back in Miami.”

“Just hush and come to bed, please.” Midge’s cheeks flushed a slight pink as memories of Miami and their date came back. 

“Whatever you say, Miriam.” 

Lenny led Midge into his bedroom, which was just as bare as the rest of his apartment. He grabbed some pajamas for himself and disappeared into the bathroom. Midge sat down on the shockingly comfortable bed and lost herself in thought. She thought about how her life fell down around her in such a short amount of time and now she was about to fall asleep next to Lenny Bruce. She could hear her mother chastising her as she slipped under the covers and let her head fall to the pillow that smelled similar to her shirt.  
Lenny came back into the bedroom, now clad in a pair of plaid boxers and a white shirt. Midge liked how comfortable and relaxed he looked, especially after only seeing him in his normal suit. She had always found him attractive like most women did but most women didn’t get to see Lenny like this and she felt privileged. 

He finally came to the bed and laid down next to Midge. He turned on his side, facing her. She turned over too, meeting his eyes. 

“Thanks for punching that guy,” Midge told him quietly. 

“It was my honor to defend a beautiful woman like you,” Lenny said just as quietly. 

Midge smiled at him. “And thanks for walking around with me. And listening to me. And letting me stay the night. And for the pajamas.”

“It really is no big deal, Midge.”

Midge didn’t respond but instead reached out her hand and brushed a hair from his forehead. His own hand came up and grabbed hers. He brought it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her skin. She was thankful that the room was dark and he couldn’t see the color on her cheeks. 

A silence came over the room as Midge and Lenny seemed to inch closer and closer to each other. Lenny drew a finger from her cheekbone down to her chin and tilted her head up. Their gazes flickered from each other’s lips to their eyes until eventually, Midge gave in and placed a light kiss on Lenny’s lips. Lenny wasted no time in kissing her back. 

They pulled apart but instead of rolling over and falling asleep, Lenny wrapped his arm around Midge’s small waist and pulled her close to his chest. He gently kissed her forehead and once more her lips before bringing his hand up to her hair. 

That night, the two fell asleep in each other’s arms. Neither knew what would happen in the morning but they didn’t care because they had each other and frankly, that was all that mattered.


End file.
